Israel, The People and The Place of Miracles

by Joseph Hunting

The very name "Israel" means "a Prince with God". No wonder that the people and the land of Israel have seen such great manifestations of the miracle-working hand of God at work in their midst in ancient times ... and TODAY.

Surely, the present-day awakening in the land and the people of Israel should rejoice the hearts of all Bible-loving Christians. The Scriptures are being fulfilled before our eyes, and with increasing expectancy of heart, we remember the Lord's promise: "When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory." (Psalm 102:16)

When Israel was founded, or at least restored, in 1948, it was a poor and struggling nation by man's standards. Then in the first four years of economically poor Israel's renewed nationhood, 70% of its immigrants flooded in from the poorer near-eastern countries. To the economist, the survival of Israel looked an impossibility, but God in His Word had promised: "He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock." (Jeremiah 31:10)

No restriction was placed by the Israeli Government on the admission of Jewish immigrants, in spite of the many problems of assimilation which confronted them. The Lord had promised: "Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither." (Jeremiah 31:8) And so the children of Israel, young and old, sick and lame, both in body and spirit, streamed into the land in fulfilment of God's promise.

Jews from the Orient, Europe, Africa and the remotest corners of the earth, who for centuries had such diverse cultures in the lands of their dispersion, re-learned the ancient Hebrew language and today with an increasing expectancy towards Messiah's coming, are essentially one people in the land of promise. Again the Word of God has been fulfilled: "I will make them one nation in the land ..." (Ezekiel 37:22)

Perhaps the greatest miracle in Israel today is the SPIRITUAL awakening. Many thousands of Jews have followed the leadership of the President and Prime Minister of Israel by joining in the intensive study of the Scriptures. In cities, agricultural settlements and outposts, thousands of Jews are grouping together for Bible Study. The writings of Sholem Asche and other present-day Jewish writers have assisted Jews to re-think and, in a new way, to face up to the question: "Is Jesus of Nazareth the promised Messiah of Israel?" The New Testament and the Old is being studied by Jews in their homes. Earnest discussions on spiritual issues are to the fore increasingly. And, significantly, there is an increasingly widespread belief that the coming of the Messiah must be SOON. The Lord promises, in preparation for His Return in glory, "A new heart ... and a new spirit will I put within you." (Ezekiel 36:26) WATCH AND PRAY, BELOVED.

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